Updated Oct 10, 2021 - Politics & Policy

"SNL" cold open skewers Facebook whistleblower hearing

A screenshot of Pete Davidson as MySpace founder Tom Anderson in the latest "SNL" cold open. Photo: NBC

"Saturday Night Live" parodied the fallout from the Facebook whistleblower's Senate testimony in this week's cold open — with Pete Davidson stealing the show as MySpace founder Tom Anderson.

The big picture: The sketch skewered lawmakers' understanding of the social media platform, with Cecily Strong's Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asking whistleblower Frances Haugen, played by Heidi Gardner: "I have 2,000 friends on Facebook. Is that good?"

  • Aidy Bryant’s Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wanted to know how to "turn off that feature on Facebook where everyone comments on all your posts and says, 'You’re bad' and they hate you," pointing to "hateful names" like "Ted Cruz Sucks" and "Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer."

Of note: Kim Kardashian West debuted as "Saturday Night Live" co-host and Halsey was the musical guest this week.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details from the sketch.

Go deeper